The Loneliest Feeling
by Kuroi-Hanabi
Summary: Claire and Luke have gone, leaving Flora and Layton to fend for themselves. But how will they cope? 'T' for themes of depression and for Self Harm.


Hey Guys, This is my first Layton Fic. I wrote this when I was in a bad place and my laptop is pants so I apologise for any spelling errors etc :p don't flame me too hard please :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Layton, I merely borrow the characters from time to time :)

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The Loneliest Feeling

Flora was lonely.

Luke had gone, Clive was in prison and Layton was here, but he was very much absent since Claire's second goodbye. She missed Luke the most, especially since she had been too shy to admit her feelings towards him and even though he wrote every week, she missed him more than ever. The terrible jokes, the spur-of-the-moment puzzles, even his ridiculous habit of talking to every animal he came across. A black cloud rained on her permanently, causing her to fall further and further into depression. She had cried into her pillow every night since he left until one night she cried so much she threw up, and even then the Professor barely noticed her not eating, not sleeping, and not talking. He questioned her one or twice on it but she always answered evasively or didn't bother replying that Layton gave up on her and wallowed in his own misery. She stopped writing back to Luke and his letters to her became gradually more and more panicked.

It had been like this for 3 months before Flora found something that really worked to take her misery out on. She had never resorted to self harm before; never had a need or a want to. Flora was scared by the thought of doing something like this. She didn't even contemplate it until her and the Professor had a truly awful fight one evening, over a lost notebook. They screamed at each other until flora ran up to her room crying and locked the door. Grabbing the first sharp object she could find, she slashed at her wrists and curled up in a ball sobbing herself to sleep. The professor apologised in the morning, but the damage was done by this point. The self harm became a habit and she was addicted.

As weeks went by, she became ever better at avoiding suspicion, and at avoiding the Professor completely. She stopped eating unless forced to and never left the house. She accumulated objects to harm herself with, hiding them from the Professor and the only things keeping her going were Luke's weekly letters.

Luke's last letter to her had been heartbreaking. The letter was covered with little splashes that she assumed were tears and the letter was filled with so much concern she immediately felt guilty for not replying in 4 months. She ran upstairs and quietly shut the bathroom door and clicked the lock. Flora leant against the door, tears streaming down her face and then she retrieved the pot of razor and pencil sharpener blades she had hidden from the Professor. Picking out her favourite, she picked up the sharp blade and sobbing quietly, raked at her wrists until she couldn't see an inch that hadn't got some kind of cut on them. Sniffling, she put her head in her hands and rocked herself against the cold of the side of the bathtub, feeling the sting where she had ravaged her skin. They itched already, and though Flora was no stranger to self harm by this point, she never got used to the itch of many scars trying to form in one place. She heard footsteps and although the bathroom door was locked, she didn't feel safe. What would the professor say if he found her? A knock on the door interrupted her reverie and she jumped, startled.

'Flora my dear, are you alright in there? You've been gone for quite a while now and I wanted to check up on you,' Layton asked, leaning up against the door and subtly trying the handle, to no avail. He had suspected something was up for a while now but hadn't had the guts to ask, especially as 'A true gentleman never prys into a lady's private life'.

'I'm fine, thank you,' Flora replied, making her voice sound strong so he would never suspect a thing. 'I'm just about to head off to bed.'

'Well, Goodnight then. Sleep well.' Layton paused at the top of the stairs, sighed and headed downstairs for his customary cup of tea before bed and to research depression more with some books he had borrowed from the university library. He needed to understand what was up with Flora, and he felt like he had been a terrible parent figure recently so was attempting to make up for it.

Flora breathed a sigh of relief, and began cleaning up after herself, careful not to leave any incriminating evidence anywhere that it might be found. She rolled down her sleeves, and unlocked the door, before scurrying to her bedroom and throwing her long-sleeved pajamas on. It was cold and she didn't want to be out of bed any longer than necessary. She didn't sleep at all, her raw wrists ached all night.

Layton didn't even make it to bed, he stayed up all night reading and wondering and feeling extraordinarily guilty. He put his head in his hands and cried. At around 4am, he decided to pen a letter to Luke.

Dear Luke,

I need your advice on something. I fear for Flora's health and well-being but am not sure how to broach the subject with her. Recently, she has been very depressed and I worry that she may be self harming. Any advice would be helpful.

Yours, Professor Hershel Layton.

He hoped Luke was coming to visit soon. They all needed it.

Flora crept downstairs in the morning, having not slept a wink, and made the professor a pot of tea. She woke him up from his desk where he had fallen asleep face-first in an open book. He took one look at her tired eyes, pale face and proclaimed 'Why, Flora, no offence my dear but you look terrible. Back off to bed with you and I don't want to see you up again before midday.'

She scuttled back off to bed, eager to please the professor but feeling ashamed for not sleeping in the first place. She crawled into her warm bed, proceeded to bury herself under the bedclothes until she couldn't breathe and managed to eventually fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

Luke received the professors letter a week later, and immediately told his parents he needed to visit England and they agreed, so he hurriedly packed his things and was on a boat within 24 hours. He arrived in England and surprised Layton by turning up on his doorstep. He was greeted with a hug and a few tears were shed between them. He went into the sitting room and clearing a huge stack of books from an armchair, managed to find a seat.

'Now, Professor, explain the situation to me because Flora hasn't written to me in months. I'm worried about her... I wish I'd explained my feeling for her before I left to be honest.' Layton looked at Luke thoughtfully, and sighing, he began to explain all of it to Luke.

'Luke my boy, I feel as though it's my fault. I feel as if I've abandoned her as a father figure recently due to my own misery...' He carried on talking for well over an hour until he reached the end of his tale, and Luke was frowning thoughtfully.

'I believe I an get an answer for you professor, if you want...' Luke said, tilting his head to the side and playing with his hat nervously. Layton nodded and they both rose from their chairs. Luke followed Layton up the stairs and waited.

'Flora, there's someone here to see you. Can they come in?' The professor asked, knocking politely on her shut bedroom door. There was no answer. 'Flora?' Layton asked again, before pushing her door open. Flora lay facedown on her bed, her sleeves rolled up and her wrists dripping with blood. Luke raced over, and gently rolled her over.

'There's your answer, Professor,' Luke said grimly, fighting back tears and failing as Layton sat down heavily and began to sob in the doorway. Luke shook Flora's shoulder, and as her eyes flickered open, He looked into them and simply stated 'Flora, I love you. Don't you ever do that to me again.' She began to sob in earnest and clung to Luke, while the professor straightened himself up and went to go find the medical kit.

'Why?' Luke kept repeating as he rocked her against him, holding her close. Flora Sniffled and answered.

'You'd gone and the Professor didn't love me any more and I was so alone and it was horrible and I just didn't want to be unwanted and I never got to tell you that I love you and I'm sorry that I've hurt you...' She was sobbing against Luke's shoulder by the end of her confession and didn't see his face when he realised what she had said. He started smiling whilst crying at the same time and hugged her closer.

'I love you so much and want you to be happy. That's why I'm here to stay,' Luke whispered to her, finding Flora's hands and holding them, tightly. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

Flora smiled through her tears and kissed Luke on the cheek. The Professor cleared his throat noisily and both Flora and Luke jumped guiltily. He bandaged Flora's wrists up silently and when they were done, Flora threw her arms around him and apologised profusely. Layton took her in his arms and apologised as well, and before they knew it, all 3 of them were crying again.

Things were finally looking up. And although it was far from perfect, it was the closest they'd been in a long, long time.

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Hope you enjoyed it, comments and constructive criticism are welcome :)

Thanks for reading x


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